Branded by the Mage
by ALcawN
Summary: He gripped the wrist that had so hurtfully entered his heart; hundreds, thousands of mangled sentences and fragmented words about to burst from his twisted soul, yet he only smiled as he slowly fell to his knees. //I love you...// -!REWRITE IN PROGRESS!-
1. Step 0

**Branded by the Mage**

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_**Disclaimer -** I don't own MapleStory. I don't even play it now. And I sure as hell won't be writing these dumb disclaimers in the upcoming chapters so just look at this whenever you need a reminder._

**OLD A/N** : And I do NOT hate mages. I just made this fanfiction up and I thought rogues and mages would be ideal for the story.

I've changed some aspects of MapleStory to fit better with my fan-fiction, so don't complain when something doesn't make sense. Use your imagination.

The prologue has nothing to do with the actual storyline; it's just there to inform you about the ruthless ways of the rogue. Well, actually, I wanted to write something stupid. (EDIT, as of now, the rewrite, the prologue is IMPORTANT! BLAH!)

**XxXxX** denotes a change within either time or place or both.

This was inspired by Revolt of the Archers, by Kal Ancalas. Inspired, as in, made me want to write a story brah.

_**This is a True Story.**_

_**Only the characters,**_

_**place, timeline,**_

_**and events have**_

_**been changed.**_

**NEW A/N **: Okay, so I have nothing to do once again. I remember beginning this story 2 years ago (o.o, it's been so long) and I also remember leaving it to die. Anyway, I had vague thoughts of continuing it, but I decided to just rewrite the entire thing. Please bear with me, but I will probably only get to like chapter 2 or 3 before I quit once again.

BTW, I really had like no interest in this chapter. It was so boring, I want to get Sindit all strong already and skip to the good parts but I can't just do that so yeah ._. , it might not be up to standard since I didn't edit much, had no beta, and didn't really want to write this boring chapter.

LOOKING FOR BETA AS WELL PLEASE TELL ME THROUGH REVIEW IF POSSIBLE!

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**Prologue(//Epilogue?//)**

Sindit stared at the dark, jagged hole in his chest, burning through his once pridefully worn Seal. He looked up, following the hand that slowly withdrew from the breach in his body. His eyes met his counterparts, not understanding the ruthlessness and revulsion that ran through them, the betrayal that had destroyed everything he had worked so hard for in his lifetime. What had he done wrong? What..?

He gripped the wrist that had so hurtfully entered his heart; hundreds, thousands of mangled sentences and fragmented words about to burst from his twisted soul, but he only smiled as he slowly fell to his knees.

"I..." He winced, his lungs too full of blood and grime to make clear sounds. His adversary inadvertantly leaned forward a little to hear the words over the gurgling blood that rushed from his torn body.

"I love you."

His killer drew back sharply, eyes widening- then the harsh sound of Sindit's breathing became no more amidst the abruptly empty room filled only with blood.

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**Chapter 1 // Step 0**

A step. Another. And another. A few more. Quite a lot more.

Then, finally, he was standing right outside the Fusion Cafe, where the famed Dark Lord was said to dwell. He stared at the foreboding sign that read "FUSION CAFE - A Place For Anyone". _Come on, just one more step. You can do it, man!_

"Move it, kid, you're in the way."

Sindit gasped and jumped to the side, giving way to the burly man. He stopped and stared at Sindit with a raised eyebrow, then went into the cafe muttering about retards. But Sindit was too agitated and fidgety to care about people who thought he was a retard. He retraced his jump back to his original position. He fervently looked around for a moment to make sure nobody was going to interrupt this time. _Okay, so.... One more step, gotta do it._

He slowly opened the intimidating door a fraction and peeked inside. Nothing horrible nor painful had suddenly come upon him, so he tentatively tiptoed in. He spread himself against the wall to make him less conspicuous and crab-walked to the corner. A quick look down the staircase informed him he was going into a basement. Cold sweat broke out on his body as his imagination went into overdrive. What horrible monsters could be lurking in there, to only allow the worthy to advance? _Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap._ Trembling, he took out his trusty fruit knife and held it tightly as he felt his way down the dark stairs.

Something moved in the darkness. Sindit jumped in horror, dropped his knife, and cut his hand.

"YOWCH!" Sindit immediately went diving after the skidding knife, not wanting to know about the horrible fate he would have to endure without his trusty fruitcutter. He frantically went after it on his knees, reaching out a hand to grab it when a boot suddenly stomped on the dagger. He didn't even want to look up at the horrendous being that was going to be the end of him, but he did so anyway.

"And who is this?" The so-called 'horrendous being' asked.

"..." Sindit stared open-mouthed at what must have been his saviour, The Dark Lord!

"Hm..?" The Dark Lord prompted.

Sindit kept staring.

The Dark Lord sighed. How he hated it when children went speechless around him. "Ahem, sorry, but deaf or mute people aren't really cut out to be good rogues. I do not believe that-"

"Wha- no! I, um, want to be a bandit, sir!" Sindit tried to smile and look like less of an idiot.

The Dark Lord smiled back at him. "Bandit, eh? Well, I'm sure that you know about becoming a rogue, then a bandit? No?"

"No! I mean, yes, yes I do know that," Sindit stumbled over his words, "so, errm, may I please become a rogue? Please?"

The Dark Lord leant down and gazed into Sindit's shadowy eyes and murmured, "Then welcome to the ranks of the rogue."

It was incredible. It felt as if a seed within him, unnurtured and forgotten, swiftly shot up and grew, filling out his entire body, then breaking through the barriers he previously had. He could do anything! Then he realised he was still on the floor and got up.

"Uh.. thanks!"

The Dark Lord only nodded tiredly.

**XxXxX**

Only after he was outside and whooping in joy did he realise he had left his oh so great fruitknife behind under The Dark Lords legendary boots. _Well, no matter, I thought I needed some new twin blades to go with my awesome banditness anyway! _He nodded satisfactorily and trudged his way to the nearby shop. _Let's see... Ten thousand to spend and ... that knife costs one hundred and twenty grand. Isn't that just great? NOT._

**XxXxX**

Sindit eyed his prey hungrily. The red snail eyed him back, with those freakishly long stalks wavering around its slimy head. Sindit slowly pulled up a twitchy hand to his belt, and grasped his new grimy and brittle dagger. The snail raised an eye stalk then slowly, sinisterly began to slide towards him. Sindit gulped and readied himself. _Time to try my new skills out!_

"DOUBLE STAB! DOUBLE STAB!!!" His frenzied strikes rained down upon the hard shell, and bounced off. The infuriated snail barged into him. "Ow- come on, that's bullshit, why isn't this working! DOUBLE STAB!" The last attack finally cracked the shell, small red splinters falling off in pieces, leaving the distressed snail vulnerable in a time of danger. Sindit capitalized on it, finally ridding the world of an evil and troublesome snail. He felt heroic. _Well, I guess practice makes perfect!_

His following hours were spent toiling after snails screaming two words over and over.

**XxXxX**

Sindit exhaustedly leaned against a boulder encrusted with red, drained after countless hours of straight hacking and slashing. He slumped down on the grassy fields, prostrate. _The clouds are really quite mysterious and fascinating,_ he thought contentedly. _Just steadily moving through the blue skies without a care, looking down on everyone else. Kind of... like a god. A supreme being, _Sindit mused. _Meh, whatever. Time to start on new skills, yo!_

"Heh heh heh." He couldn't help but grin as he once again opened and looked upon the fabled Skill Book.

_Double Stab  
Use mana to quickly stab at an enemy twice at once using a dagger._

Sindit frowned a little. It hadn't quite been the awesome skill he had imagined that would let him cut everything down in his path, and he still sometimes bounced off shells, but he could practice. He sighed. _Well, onto bigger and better things._

_Dark Sight  
Use mana to hide in a sub-dimension. While hiding, the enemy cannot attack, but you can't attack back either. All movements other than attacking are available. It's temporary, so after a while, you'll be back to normal._

His eyes widened at the implications. _Sweet! Now THAT is the skill I've been looking for! _He pressed his sweaty palm onto the clean page that held the great skill and closed his eyes. He breathed slowly; letting himself get into a meditative state. It would help. Everything went silent for an instant; then the imprint of the knowledge burnt itself into his mind and he sat up, gasping. _Wow! I know how to transverse through alternate dimensions! _He stood up, eager to use this new comprehension of dimensions to his profit. He saw a happy slime in the corner of his sight, bouncing around in the flower fields. It seemed to be a chirpy little thing, bounding along the grassy hills carefreely. Sindit hefted a stone and chucked it at the slime. He missed. _Sigh. At least I didn't try to be an assassin._ Sindit grabbed a fistful of pebbles and let the slime be treated to a rocky rain. It stopped pouncing around as a few pebbles rebounded off its translucent membrane. The jovial atmosphere went subzero as killing intent began to leak off. Sindit screwed up his eyes in concentration and felt for the subdimension as the slime sped towards him.

It stomped him into the ground.

Some other people training around him took some time to pause, look at his situation and guffaw.

He got up, glowering at the slime that was all of a sudden prancing around the flowers blithely yet again. Now, that really pissed him off. But revenge would have to wait. He felt for the alternate dimension again, this time doing it gradually bit by bit. A tug, at the very edge of consciousness. His body began to distort painlessly. He looked at his body in enthrallment- everything was in shades of grey. He smirked and ran at the slime. It turned just in time to see him charge, and responded with its own, only to pass harmlessly through his immaterial body. The disgruntled slime twittered for a second, before it began to chase the butterflies again. Sindit sweatdropped.

_Well, so far so good..._

_Bandit, here I come._

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**OLD A/N **: Hello! I decided to include Chapter 1 with the prologue, mainly because so many people were just looking at the prologue and going, "Omg, this is so short, it sucks. I'm not reading this."

Review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review and review some more.

EDIT: Done chapter two. Please read, it's MUCH better than this chapter, at least in my opinion.

**NEW A/N **: So, here it is, my first chapter of the rewrite. I don't know if it's better or not, but hope you guys review. And don't forget about that beta bit.

Something about a few misconceptions about this chapter - THE WHOLE 'PROLOGUE//EIPLOGUE' THING OBVIOUSLY ISN'T THE REAL ENDING SHEESH. I wouldn't give that out right right from the friggin' beginning.

Another is the 'Dark Lord blahblah deaf/mute w.e Sindit' thing. He doesn't actually believe that Sindit is a retard etcetc, he's just saying that to prompt Sindit into talking. 'Kay?


	2. Hey, wait a

**Branded by the Mage**

**

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****OLD A/N : **A long amount of time has passed since he had become a rogue. He will be very different to what you all expect him to be, and his memories as a rogue will be revealed in flashbacks as a bandit.

Also, don't review to tell me that BBTM and MapleStory don't fit together. I just tweaked the circumstances in this story a little bit to suit my needs.

**NEW A/N **: Sup, back for chap 2. Again, it wasn't heavily edited and not beta-ed so it's crap etcetc. Anyhoo, ignore that stuff up there ^ 'cause I'm gonna be changing storyline around... Actually, I have no freakin' idea. I'm just writing this on the fly. Haha. It'll turn out good, hopefully.

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**Chapter 2 // Hey, wait a-**

There was only one thing that filtered through Sindit's consciousness when he woke up: Pain. It was bloody agony trying to open his heavy eyes, but training required him to take in his unknown surroundings immediately. _Ouch... okay, I seem to be in my tent. Whew, safe. _He gratefully closed his eyes and almost drifted back to blissful sleep before a thought sparked in his mind. _Wait a second, didn't I go to sleep on that tree branch in Perion? Why am I in my tent? _He shot up, trying to ignore the ache the gigantic bump on his head generated. _How did I- holy shit! This isn't even __**my**__ tent! Where the fuck am I?_

He panicked and reached for his weapons, but he already knew they wouldn't be there as his hands only met empty air. _Shitshitshit I'm gonna get raped! No!_ Sindit closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind in an effort to calm down. _Come on, let's chill... Nothing bad's gonna happen, don't worry Sindit... Who the fuck am I kidding, you do not just get knocked out and kidnapped for no reason, damn it. I've gotta get out of here!_

He stood up shakily and stared at the quivering tent-flap. Who knew what was out there? But, he reasoned, if he didn't get out, they were going to come in eventually. He geared himself up for a charge and slipped into Dark Sight as he reached for the zip that held the tent flap shut. _Okay, I'll take a quick look to see what's there then run straight out to-_

"HOLY FUCK THAT HURT!" Sindit screamed as he bounced onto his ass, holding his scorched right hand. "OWWWWWWCH! BULLSHIT! THIS IS SO NOT HAPPENING TO ME! WHAT KIND OF PARANOID FUCKER MAKES HIS GODDAMN TENT CONDUCT ELECTRICITY!" He held his smoking hand gingerly by the wrist; the electric shock had burnt through his nerves so that he couldn't even feel his tender arm up to his elbow. A frown marred his features. He wouldn't be any good for fighting without his weapons and much less so with a dead arm. And now that someone had probably heard him venting his rage, it was only a matter of seconds before they came. Fear immediately trickled down his spine.

He flexed his arm while channeling mana through it; he'd found that injuries healed quicker if he concentrated his mana around the damaged area. _Damn it! My arm probably won't be good for another hour. _His ears pricked as he heard a rustling from the entry of the tent. He jumped backwards, his remaining good arm already reaching for his absent daggers. With dread, he realised for a second time he had no weapon, but this time, the defenselessness fully impacted him; making him almost wish for the enemy to appear to just end the breathless period of waiting. But the prolonged silence stretched on, seconds becoming minutes until Sindit stopped hyperventilating. _Maybe nobody heard me? _Regardless, he still stood facing the door for a long time, until he was sure nothing was suddenly going to blow up. Then, with nothing happening for the moment, Sindit sat, crossing his arms and legs. He returned to thinking about his predicament.

_Okay, so... Last thing I remember is going to sleep in Perion. Before that, I was at the Free Market trying to buy that Reef Claw. _Sindit scowled. _Seriously, what was up with that prick, thirty thousand was more than enough. As if he's going to get a better deal from anyone else. Grrr... Anyway, onto my current dilemma... I don't think I've pissed anyone off recently, or at least I don't remember it- ah shit. That granny. But there's no way she could pull something like this off. _He was getting aggravated just imagining what could have merit him into being randomly kidnapped. _So, why is this happening to me..?_

He angrily felt for the bumpy piece of rock that was seriously pissing his sore behind off. It felt a bit off; grainy and woodish. Taking a quick look, he realised he was sitting on a massive tree root. _Huh? But they only have massive plants like this in Ellinia! There's no way I was taken there in one night from Perion. _His thoughts turned to a darker route. _But, who says I've only been unconscious for one night... Fuck. I can't just sit here waiting._

Sindit began to pace around in front of the harmless looking tent-flap again. Now that he was aware of the enchantment, he could practically see the mana dripping off it. _A mage must have done this. Lightning element. _Controlling his anger, he found a clump of dirt and mud and threw it at the door. As he predicted, the cluster of dirt blew apart in a vivid flash the moment it brushed against the surface of the tent. Some of the particles flew straight into his eyes.

"Far out! Why is this day turning out so freakin' badly!" He narrowed his stinging eyes at the innocent looking tent entrance. "I'll just fucking blow through it!" He clenched his semi-healed right arm down at his side with his left, channeling as much raw mana to it as possible. Maybe he didn't know how to use elemental attacks like some other classes, but what he did know was that when raw mana mixed with mana that had been specialised, it reacted badly. As in, Alkalimetal-meets-water badly. Once Sindit thought he had enough mana compressed in his arm, he rushed at the door without thinking of any possible consequences in frustration.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.**

Sindit skidded to a halt before the door, arm outstretched, but not quite touching the door frame. He jerked it back once he realised the blast hadn't come from him. Something was finally happening and- **BOOOOOOOM!** The explosion sounded again, but this time, it was closer and with it came accompanying screams and shouts. Sindit backed up to the opposite wall of the tent-flap, eyes wide and wondering _what the fuck _was happening.

Then a body blew through the side of the tent, collapsing it.

"Holy shit!"

Amongst the electric currents running freely through the mess of mana saturated air, Sindit managed to crawl out and away. He looked around him, his jaw dropping at the incredibly sudden occurence of full-out war.

There seemed to be a massive free-for-all fight going on amidst the mages, with blistering electric bolts, roaring explosions of fire, chaotic spikes of ice and blurred shuriken flying around- _Shuriken? _Sindit thought. He kept down to the ground, trying not to garner attention from any of the battle crazed mages and rogues punching it out all around him. While the furious battle raged on, he tried hard to work out what was happening. It was all too confusing for him. _I go to sleep in Perion, I wake up in Ellinia, then after being stuck inside a tent for hours a battle suddenly erupts out of fucking nowhere with me in the middle of it!_ Said battle seemed to be favouring the rogues- they were smoothly blitzing through the mage's battle lines, leaving them scattered and pushing them back as the rogues advanced steadily.

Then, within a few moments it was finished; the remaining mage's turned and ran, haphazardly firing spells over their shoulders to cover their retreat. The rogues stayed to howl their victory to the sky.

"Come on, you idiots! Count the dead, take the ones alive and get ready to move! You know the drill! Get to it!"

Still quite shocked, Sindit stayed on the ground until a rough hand pulled him up by the scruff of his neck. The man scrutinised him. "You one of us or them?"

"Huh? Me? I- I don't even know any of you!"

The fierce looking man kept staring. Sindit's eyes were drawn to his long, curvy and sharp dagger in the bandit's other hand.

He gulped. "...Please don't ki-"

"Okay, okay," the man interrupted, "whatever. Follow me."

The man lead him to a large wagon that was being brought in. Its bulky wheels were creaking with strain as it transversed the densely woody Ellinia landscape. It was painted in grey and black, dark colours, but it seemed out of place in the bright Ellinia forest. The man shoved him towards the carriage. He dimly realised that various other people in poor conditions like him were gathering to it as well.

Feeling numb, he entered to be swallowed up by the shadowed maw of the wagon.

**XxXxX**

Soon, the forests of Ellinia were quiet and peaceful once again. The mottled green was prominent amongst the tall, large trees and drips of sunlight filtered through the leafy foliage to fall upon the grounds below. But there, the tranquil atmosphere ended. Congealed blood stained the dirt, and in every direction you could see, corpses lay.

The great trees of Ellinia rejoiced.

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**OLD A/N** : This is going to be my last chapter for a few weeks. I have to revise for exams and stuff, even if I don't want to. But still, don't give up on this story. Check back.

Oh yeah, and if I get bored with revision, I might decide to update with chapter three, so check back **often**!

R&R please. I need much more inspiration and I get that from positive reviews.

EDIT: Chapter 3 is done.

**NEW A/N : **Okay, sorry, I thought about it whilst writing, and, not really surprisingly, I didn't want to write this chapter either. I originally thought that my reluctance to write would go away etcetc after the first chap but it stayed. Tbh, I didn't really like this story/chapter either. I really did want to write a lot more, and expected to, but I just couldn't churn out any more words after what I'd done so far. And, yer, I understand the "fight scene" in this chapter isn't even one. This is still supposed to be the build-up but srsly, I just don't think I'm up to it. I cba doing this.

But who knows, maybe I'll still be able to pump out chapter three or maybe I'll continue my other story (**Angel of Death**- yeah, shameless advertising here, CHECKITOUTANDLEAVEAREVIEW) or I might start a totally new story;

Or I'll just quit fics. Most likely imo. However, if I manage to attain a beta or some nice encouragement, I 100 percent guarantee chapter three but that'd probably be it.

GG WP, thanks to all the readers here so far!


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